Olkiluoto

HELSINKI Jan 8 (Reuters) - Finnish nuclear power consortium Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) on Thursday said it is looking to cut up to 110 jobs, or 13 percent of its staff, due to lower power prices and soaring costs from its delayed Olkiluoto 3 reactor project.

The start of the reactor, planned to be Finland's fifth and biggest nuclear unit, has been delayed until late 2018, almost a decade later than originally planned.

"Electricity market price has dropped and there are no signs of improvement in the coming foreseeable future. In addition, costs related to nuclear power production have increased and the delay of Olkiluoto 3 project has caused remarkable additional costs," TVO chief executive Jarmo Tanhua said in a statement.

(Reuters) - The French-German consortium Areva-Siemens, the supplier of Finland's much-delayed Olkiluoto-3 nuclear reactor, has increased its claim against Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), TVO said late on Friday.

TVO and Areva have traded accusations about who is to blame for delays and extra costs, and the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) arbitration court is processing a dispute on cost overruns between the two sides.

Areva-Siemens in September said the start date of the reactor, which is planned to be Finland's fifth and biggest nuclear unit, will be pushed back to late 2018 - almost a decade later than originally planned.

HELSINKI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Finland's government has rejected an application from utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) to extend a permit for a new nuclear reactor in the west of the country, Economy Minister Jan Vapaavuori told reporters on Thursday.

TVO had requested a five-year extension to the Olkiluoto 4 reactor project because it was dealing with delays and overruns at its predecessor, Olkiluoto 3.

Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) and Areva bickered at one another on Monday over an updated schedule for the completion of construction and start-up of a third unit at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Eurajoki, Satakunta.

Areva on Monday revealed that it expects to complete construction on the site in 2016 but reminded that commissioning the new unit will require an additional two years. As a result, the third unit is not expected to generate electricity to the national grid until the end of 2018.

The consortium was due to apply for the Olkiluoto 4 construction license by 2015, but problems at its current plant project make decision-making regarding the following project impossible by that, it said.

HELSINKI/PARIS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Finland's TVO was unable on Friday to estimate a start date for its long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor as the utility and French supplier Areva, already battling in court, blamed each other for the latest delays.

Finnish daily Kauppalehti cited sources from the site saying the startup of the reactor could be delayed until at least 2018 as work had slowed.

Early last year, Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said the start might be delayed until 2016. Construction of the Areva-designed EPR reactor began in 2005 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2009.

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Commercial production at Finnish nuclear reactor Olkiluoto 3 is likely to be delayed until 2016, utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) warned on Monday, the latest setback in plans for the country's fifth such plant.

TVO said there had been delays in planning the plant's automation system and that it had not yet received proper schedule updates from consortium Areva-Siemens , which is building the reactor.

Chief Executive Luc Oursel said the reactor in Olkiluoto will ultimately cost about 8 billion euros, same as a similar reactor it is building in Flamanville, in northern France. That's well over the last cost estimate of around EUR6.4 billion.

"Our estimation is that the whole project (in Finland) will have a cost in constant euros close to Flamanville," Mr. Oursel said during a press conference.

The Government is planning to write a "blank cheque" to the nuclear industry by underwriting the cost of new power stations, leading energy academics have claimed in a letter to The Independent.

Under a major policy U-turn being considered by ministers, the taxpayer would be left to cover the cost of budget over-runs or building delays at new nuclear plants. Costly setbacks are almost inevitable with such complex construction projects.